“She must,” Aehako says easily. He squeezes my shoulder, and I wince when he touches a bruised spot. “And we must respect the human rituals. That is why you cannot go after them when they go to the Elders’ Cave.”
I scowl. How did he know what I intended? I look over at Aehako and his face is grim.
“I know you are thinking it because I would do the same for my Kira,” he says. “But you must not. If you value tribe harmony, you will claim one of the hunting trails and go out for several days. Cool your head. Get your mind back to where it should be. Do not think about the female.”
As if I can simply push thoughts of Tee-fah-nee from my mind. I snort at the ridiculous thought.
“I am telling you as a chief,” Aehako says. “I am sending Bek and Vaza and Hassen out on hunting trails as well. It is time we stop with all the foolishness of fighting over females and return to our true task – providing enough food for the brutal season. There have been far too many distractions as of late.”
He’s not wrong. I have spent more time with Tee-fah-nee than hunting lately. I think of my mother and father, my younger sister Farli. My brothers Pashov and Dagesh and their mates and young. They do not deserve to go hungry simply because I cannot focus.
But Tee-fah-nee is not safe with only Taushen to protect her. The humans are all too vulnerable. “I will hunt the trails,” I tell Aehako. There are many familiar paths our hunters take, and along the way there are scattered caves and icy caches of frozen kills that will be useful in the brutal season. Those caches must be replenished, and hunting the trails will keep me away from the main cave for many days in a row.
It is a lie, though.
Instead of hunting, I shall follow Tee-fah-nee and ensure that she is safe.
• • •
TIFFANY
“You watch dvisti?” I point at little Chompy in his pen and Farli nods at me eagerly. She spits out a stream of fluid syllables and gesticulates with her hands. I have no idea what she’s saying, but she’s nodding and pointing at the baby animal, so I’m sure she’s agreeing to watch him. One good thing out of this trip will be the language-dump. I’m ready to understand what all the sa-khui are saying. I’ve picked up some of the language in the last year and a half, but it’s so fluid and so many of the hunters speak English to us that I’m not as good with it as I should be.
Farli looks at me, smiling. Her hand strays down to Chompy’s little triangle-shaped head and the dvisti bleats and licks her fingers. He loves her, not me, because she’s been the one tirelessly taking care of him while I deal with my issues.
“When I get back, you and I are going to have a long talk about animal husbandry,” I tell her. I’ll give her the little animal for her own and help her raise him, but at this point? He’s her pet, not mine.
“Ready to go?” Josie calls out to me, snowshoes in hand. She’s bundled up in several layers of furs, and those furs are strapped down to her chest with a leather harness to keep them from flapping in the wind and catching the cold air. I’m dressed similarly, even though it’s hot in the cave. It’ll be cold once we get out in the elements, and my khui won’t be able to keep up.
Kira’s nearby, ready to see us off. She’s made breakfast for us, and is now breastfeeding her baby. Her mate went off hunting earlier, so she’s by herself. Other than that, the cave is rather empty.
“I’m ready,” I tell her and give one last smile to Farli, a pat on the head to Chompy, and then head over to her side. Josie hands me a second pair of snowshoes and we head to the mouth of the cave, where Taushen is waiting for us, all eager grins.
He’s clearly excited for this trip. I wish I could feel the same enthusiasm, but all I feel is the same familiar dread. I’ll have to pay a lot of attention to Taushen on this trip. He won fair and square and I should at least reward him, even if the reward is just listening to him talk about his favorite subject: me.
There’s a few people lingering near the mouth of the cave to see us off. Kira’s nursing Kae, Haeden is watching, and two of the elders sit by the fire. I’m surprised that Salukh is nowhere to be seen, nor my other failed suitors. It must be intentional.
Taushen holds out our packs, both filled with extra furs, water-skins, fire-making implements, bone-knives, and the spicy travel-rations that the sa-khui love. “The morning grows late. Let us get started.”
“We’re on it,” Josie says, and bends down to put on her snowshoes. I do the same.
“I don’t like this,” announces a hard voice. I look up in surprise to see Haeden frowning down at us. “It’s not safe.”